


something challenging

by the_girl_that_time_forgot



Series: Happy Times in Valinor [2]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Ficlet, Gen, Quenya Names, Years of the Trees
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27799927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_girl_that_time_forgot/pseuds/the_girl_that_time_forgot
Summary: A winter afternoon in the House of Fëanor.
Relationships: Curufin | Curufinwë & Maglor | Makalaurë
Series: Happy Times in Valinor [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2014282
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23
Collections: Tolkien Secret Santa 2020 ADVENT CALENDAR





	something challenging

**Author's Note:**

> A ficlet written for the Tolkien Secret Santa 2020 Advent Calendar (Day 19)
> 
> Prompt: playing (games)

It’s late afternoon when Makalaurë comes back home from his orchestra practice. His hair is slightly damp due to walking in the snowfall so he makes a beeline for the warm and cozy Hall of Play. Once there, he notices that the space in front of the fireplace is empty and inviting; however, his attention gets quickly caught by the scene taking place in the middle of the room:

Finno is crouching on the floor and frantically flapping his arms; Tyelko, Moryo, and the twins are shouting some odd words and phrases; Írissë is slowly sliding off the sofa laughing like crazy; Nelyo is just staring at Finno with an unusual intensity, as if he was trying very hard to read the other’s mind. The only sane person in the room seems to be Curvo, who is sitting by the table and writing on small pieces of paper.

Makalaurë sighs with a mixture of fondness and exasperation. He picks Írissë up from the floor and puts her back on the sofa, then goes to the table, pours himself some tea and sits down beside Curvo. In the meantime, Finno stopped pretending to be a bird and launched into an elaborate and utterly incomprehensible pantomime.

‘How did you manage to get them to play your twisted charades again?’ Makalaurë asks his younger brother.

Curvo’s eyebrows shoot up. ‘They’re not twisted, they’re just challenging,’ he replies calmly, looking for all intents and purposes like the definition of innocence. ‘Besides, I’m making it easier for them this time!’

Makalaurë knows his brother’s character too well to fall for that. ‘Oh, really? So what kind of phrase is Finno performing _this time_?’

Curvo looks up at their cousin who is currently stabbing the air with an imaginary knife. He smiles widely and shows his brother a slip of paper. Makalaurë glances down at the neat writing, then up at Curvo, then at Finno, then groans quietly and goes back to nursing his tea. His siblings and cousins should have enough braincells to _not_ fall for the games of a madman; it’s not his fault that they decided not to use them.

A quarter of hour passes, during which the audience manages to determine correctly only a part of the phrase enacted by Finno: some kind of birds (not pigeons) delivering some kind of messages. What is the role of a knife in this process, nobody knows.

Finno flops down on the floor, evidently tired and 100% done. ‘It’s A MURDER OF CROWS DELIVERING WEDDING INVITATIONS!’ he exclaims eventually.

A brief silence falls, followed by outcries of surprise, comprehension, and frustration, in that specific order.

Curvo’s silent satisfaction is way too loud for Makalaurë, so he decides to rescue his siblings and cousins from yet another round of “challenging” charades by using an old and proven method:

‘So who’s up for a snowball fight?’

And suddenly it’s as if a new life has just been breathed into the battered souls, when former charades players enthusiastically run out of the room to grab their winter coats.

This time it’s Makalaurë who grins at Curvo in victory.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! ^^


End file.
